Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
■ Bahamians, fearing the worst, search for loved ones in debris.
MCLEAN’S TOWN, Bahamas — They scan social media, peer under rubble, or try to follow the smell of death in an attempt to find family and friends.
They search amid alarming reports that 1,300 people remain listed as missing nearly two weeks after Hurricane Dorian hit the northern Bahamas.
The government has cautioned that the list is preliminary and many could be staying in shelters and just haven’t been able to connect with loved ones.
But fears are growing that many died when the Category 5 storm slammed into the archipelago’s northern region with winds in excess of 185 mph and severe flooding that toppled concrete walls, cracked trees in half and ripped swings off playgrounds as Dorian battered the area for a day and a half.
“If they were staying with me, they would’ve been safe,” Phil Thomas Sr. said as he leaned against the frame of his roofless home in the fishing village of McLean’s Town and looked into the distance.
The boat captain has not seen his 30-year-old son, his two grandsons or his granddaughter since the storm. They were all staying with his daughter-inlaw, who was injured and taken to a hospital in the capital, Nassau, after the U.S. Coast Guard found her — but only her.
“People have been looking, but we don’t really come up with anything,” Thomas said, adding that he’s heard rumors that someone saw a boat belonging to his son, a marine pilot, though the vessel also hasn’t been found.
He especially misses his 8-year-old grandson: “He was my fishing partner. We were close.”
The loss weighs on Thomas, who said he tries to stay busy cleaning up his home so he doesn’t think about them.
“It’s one of those things. I’m heartbroken, but life goes on,” he said. “You pick up the pieces bit by bit. I’ve got to rebuild a house. I’ve got three more kids. I’ve got to live for them until my time comes.”
Meanwhile, a cluster of heavy thunderstorms was heading toward the Bahamas and was expected to further drench the communities bashed by Dorian.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the system was expected to become a tropical depression or storm and hit the central and northwestern Bahamas with winds and heavy rains before moving along the east coast of Florida on Saturday.
The approaching storm system was slowing down efforts to bring in aid, and a spokesman for the island’s National Emergency Management Agency urged people living in damaged homes in Grand Bahama to move into shelters.
Food and water remain the biggest needs in the hard-hit Abaco islands, where officials temporarily suspended flights as the storm system approaches, NEMA spokesman Carl Smith said.
“Hang in there, we care for you, we will get to you,” he said. “It takes time to get to everyone. We are doing our best. We ask people to have patience.”
At least 42 people died in Abaco and eight in Grand Bahama, and Prime Minister Hubert Minnis has warned that number will increase significantly.
“The grief is unbearable,” he said in a recent televised address. “Many are in despair, wondering if their loved ones are still alive.”